Don writes:

>In Part 2 of my review, I did not fully explain my unfavorable reaction
>to what I called Matthew Goerne's over-emoting in his role as Jesus in
>the Harnoncourt set.  Some of my reaction is based on text, but the rest
>just has to do with Goerne's voice.  As I've stated earlier, I find Matthew
>Goerne to have a fantastic instrument.  Its greatest appeal to me is based
>on its strength, masculine stature/majesty, and tonal beauty.  However, I
>also find that when Goerne takes on a highly emotional posture in the
>recitatives, those wonderful vocal qualities are greatly reduced.  He no
>longer sounds strong, stature takes a nosedive, and even the tonal beauty
>loses much in the equation.  This surprised and disappointed me; I initally
>thought that Goerne would be sensational on any emotional level.  As usual,
>I generally expect too much out of mere mortals.

My own feeling was that Goerne sounded like an upperclass wimp.

Don't get me wrong; I love members of the upperclass, I love wimps, and I
love Goerne.  But it just doesn't work here.  I blame myself, too.  I'm
wanting the emotion in the situation to be moderated.  I want it presented
as a retrospective, not a documentary!

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